Here is a conversation on why and when God says no to our prayers:
The fellow I was discipling and I were talking about prayer one day,
and the conversation turned to why God sometimes doesn't answer our
prayers.
"He always answers our prayers," I said. "It's just that sometimes the
answer is 'No.'" "Why would He do that?" asked my friend. "I mean, if
He's got the ability to, and He loves us and wants to see us happy,
and if it's not a self-seeking or extravagant request, why shouldn't
He?"
"For one of two reasons," I answered. "Either there's something extra
good in God's heart, or there's something extra bad in our heart."
"What do you mean?" "Let's take the first option. Sometimes God will
say "No" to a request we have because He has something even better in
mind than we could imagine." (1
Corinthians 2:9; Romans 11:33,34).
"You mean, like I might be asking him for a Chevy, but He would rather
I have a Cadillac?"
"Perhaps. Or He might rather you take the bus, on which He's planned
for you to meet your future wife. You never know in what creative ways
God might want to bless you! Then again, He may deny our request because
He knows that what we want would be bad for us." (Psalms.
84:11; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
"So He would say 'No' to protect me?" "Exactly. My infant daughter
might dearly desire to play with the nice, shiny butcher knife, but
I'm going to have to tell her no, because I love her, and want her to
keep all ten fingers as long as possible. She might not understand or
agree with my decision, but my decision will stand. Or remember how
Paul asked God three times to remove his 'thorn in the flesh?' God said
'No' to insure that Paul wouldn't be overcome by pride." "But then He
made up for it by pouring on extra grace, right?"
"Right!" said I. "And Paul said he liked that answer even better! So
one primary reason why God will say 'No' to our prayers is because
He wants to improve upon them - something 'extra good' in His heart!"
"You mentioned a second reason," my friend said. "Something `extra bad'
in my heart?"
"Yes, sometimes God says 'No' because of sin in our lives. (Psalms
66:18; Isaiah 59:2). God loves to grant us our requests,
but He has priorities - and top priority for Him is that our relationship
with Him remains unhindered. If there is anything going on in our lives
that is jeopardizing that relationship, it becomes the focus of God's
attention until it is resolved."
"You're saying that God gets 'tunnel vision' about that issue?"
"In a way, yes. When we sin, it isn't an event that happens once and
then it's over. It's effects linger. If we don't confess it and repent,
we become hardened, calloused, and a little more prone to do it again
and again. Eventually, it can destroy us. (Hebrews
3:13; James 1:14-16). Even if we don't recognize this, God
does, and He won't allow us to 'change the subject' until it's dealt
with."
"What do you mean, 'change the subject'," my friend asked.
"That's what we're doing when we refuse to deal with sin in our lives
and yet continue to come to God with our requests. It's like this: let's
say you came to me and wanted to borrow my pickup truck so you could
help your friend move. But as we stood talking, I noticed a red stain
on your shirt sleeve. I pointed it out to you, but you told me to forget
about it, and continued to explain your need for the truck. The stain
began to grow rapidly, and soon it was clear that you had a deep cut,
and the blood was beginning to pool at your feet.
"I became alarmed, and offered to take you to the hospital. But you
became impatient with me. Here you were, coming to me with a legitimate,
selfless request, and all I could do was bug you about this little scratch
- which you were sure was of no consequence and would soon heal up.
"But it became obvious to me that if I didn't get you to the hospital
soon, you wouldn't be alive to help your friend move. So despite your
pleas, I had no regard whatsoever for your request. Instead, I did all
I could to get you to the doctor.
"In the same way, we might be coming to God with noble requests, but
God isn't going to bother listening if He sees sin in our lives, cutting
us to ribbons. Helping you get rid of the sin becomes His top priority,
and everything else will just have to wait."
Be Encouraged.
*******************Letter # 19 (19. 5. 2002)**********************
(from Chris Adsit on "when God says No!")
